America doesn’t make things anymore. Or at least, not enough of them. Manufacturing has dropped from over 28% of U.S. GDP in the 1950s to around 10% today. Only 8% of Americans now work in the sector, down from nearly 30% in 1960. Meanwhile, nearly 80% of Americans believe the country would be better off with more people working in factories. That gap, between desire and reality, is what Industrion exists to close.
The manufacturing decline isn’t just economic. It’s personal. Entire regions were built around factories. When they shut down, entire communities collapsed. Between 2000 and 2010 alone, the U.S. lost more than 5.7 million manufacturing jobs. Today, the replacement rate for skilled tradespeople is dangerously low: for every five who retire, only two take their place. We’re facing a shortage of over 600,000 workers, projected to grow to more than 2.1 million by 2030. The result? Slower production, brittle supply chains, and missed opportunities to reshore critical capabilities. Without people who know how to bend steel, calibrate machines, or run a press, the whole economy weakens.
Industrion is built for the people still holding it down on the factory floor, and for those who want to join them. These are the machinists, welders, toolmakers, assemblers, and operators who keep the world running. They don’t post threads on productivity hacks, they make productivity real. Their hands build planes, turbines, ships, and semiconductors. And as more of the world realizes that real leverage exists in manipulating atoms, not pixels, these workers are becoming more valuable than ever. In the U.S., manufacturing workers make $88,406 annually on average, including benefits, far more than most service jobs.
We believe the fastest way to rebuild America’s industrial base is to spotlight the people, the skills, and the opportunities already out there. Industrion surfaces job openings, publishes honest content about factory life, and helps ensure small shops don’t disappear when their founders retire. We bring visibility and pride back to trades that have been undervalued for decades, and make it easier for the next generation to find their way into them. Young people don’t avoid trades because they don’t care, they avoid them because no one ever showed them what’s possible. Industrion exists to change that.
This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about national strength. Denmark, where 16% of GDP comes from manufacturing, pays McDonald’s workers well because their industrial base is strong. The factories that still exist need people, and those people need a system that supports them, celebrates them, and helps them grow. That’s what Industrion is here to build.
And we can’t talk about manufacturing without talking about national security. Supply chains are weapons now. In 2020, the U.S. discovered it couldn’t make enough N95 masks. In 2022, we scrambled to source semiconductors. Our Navy’s shipbuilding backlog grows while China launches vessels at breakneck speed. We’ve offloaded core production to rivals and hoped it would work out. It won’t. Without a domestic industrial base, we are exposed. Manufacturing is deterrence. Every nation that wants sovereignty must know how to build its own essentials, ammo, chips, drones, tractors, transformers. Industrion is a small part of rebuilding that foundation.
Our vision is simple: remind the country that real strength comes from steel, circuitry, and skill. Help the people who’ve kept it alive. Show the next wave what’s possible. We’re not here to make trades cool, we’re here to make them undeniable. A future where building physical things is seen not as a fallback, but as a first choice. Where factory workers aren’t invisible, they’re the backbone of the economy, and they know it.
Industrion isn’t a media brand. It’s not a job board. It’s not some nostalgic project. It’s a rally point for those who believe the next American century will be built in factories. And if we get it right, the best minds of the next generation won’t go into adtech, they’ll go into aerospace, precision tooling, and robotics. That’s the future we’re fighting for. And we’re just getting started.
Industrion is building the infrastructure to revitalize American manufacturing by focusing on three main actions:
Surfacing high-quality industrial jobs:
They highlight open positions in skilled trades like machining, welding, and toolmaking—connecting young workers and career switchers with factories that are hiring.
Telling real stories from the factory floor:
Industrion publishes honest, pride-driven content that celebrates blue-collar workers and demystifies factory life. It’s media with a mission—to shift cultural perceptions and show that trades are not just viable but valuable careers.
Preserving and supporting small manufacturers:
They help ensure that local machine shops and family-run operations don’t disappear when their founders retire—potentially through talent matching, succession planning, or resources to modernize and grow.